Wednesday, 9 July 2014

With an EP recorded by
Ian Love (Rival Schools) and produced by Grammy award winner Guy
Massey (Manic Street Preachers, Depeche Mode, Spiritualized and The
Chameleons) you're pretty much guaranteed that the début from
Brooklyn, New York's Tyburn Saintshas its sights set high. Indeed the
EP delves headlong into the dark side of the 80s indie charts pulling
out the best of shoegaze, new-wave, goth and synthpop had to offer
and distils them into something fresh, but distinctly retro.

You
could instantly dismiss them as being retro-fetishist hipsters, and
that they perhaps lack the bite of their source material. Yes, the
production style does come off a little retro for the sake of it, and
there is definitely more emphasis on the pop element of their sound.
But this is one of those bands that are going to get their claws into
a lot of people for the simple reason that they're damn good song
writers.

What they present at their best is something between
The Psychedelic Furs, Nick Cave and Depeche Mode. It's moody
synthesizer-augmented dark indie that 30 years ago would have made
them the biggest band in the world, but now simply marks them as an
interesting and original listening experience.

With songs
such as 'She's So', 'With The Night In Our Eyes' , 'With The Light In
Our Eyes' and 'A Way With Her' up their sleeves, they prove they have
the ability to write big and infectious anthems with memorable
melodies and sing-a-long choruses.

However, there is still
this overriding sense that they are writing a love letter to the
1980s in the styles of the time rather than in their own voice. But
this is a first outing after all, and it is a strong one that
promises a lot more to come from this band.